cogitations on technology and learning

Category: Rants

“I think you should read the report.” A simple sentence. Powerful words though. A challenge, and a (deserved) reproof. So I read the report. Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Serious Case Review – Children A-F – Overview Report – March 2015 I would advise you to do so as well. If you can stand it. I… Read More The presumption of innocence

We’re told there were 44,000 responses to the teachers workload challenge, with more than 20,000 providing answers to the open questions. Let’s assume 5 minutes to fill in the basic form and another 25 minutes to answer the open questions. That’s 12,000 teacher hours. We’re told that every single one of the responses was read… Read More The value of nothing

The first assembly I attended as a teacher was for the new intake of Year 9’s (lower/middle/upper system) given by our Deputy Head Richard Morris. Now I’m not that brilliant at remembering things from that long ago but many of his words that day stayed with me and informed not just my teaching but how… Read More Primum non nocere

For clarity, I’m not a “Sir Ken Robinson said the word ‘creativity’ without defining it to my exact requirements, so he needs to die at the stake” sort of person. Anyone who wants to take the time to discuss education and to laud the benefits of a state education is ok by me. Nothing anyone… Read More You can dance if you want to

Grrr. I was intending that my next post would be a follow-up to this one, but events, dear boy, events! So, Nesta and The TES commission YouGov to run a survey on teachers levels of confidence in delivering the new Computing curriculum. They may well have their own motives for asking the particular set of… Read More The significance of confidence levels

When politicians make speeches I understand that they are, by and large, made for a political purpose. They will use language and, sometimes, facts in a way that ‘helps’ the reader to understand and subscribe to their point of view. I do, however, have a preference for politicians to get basic, checkable facts contained in… Read More Assessing Politicians Prose

If you set up a school in a area where there is no need for more school places. If the local population don’t want it. If you allow a group of people who have no experience in running a school to start one. If you allow that group to outsource the running of the school… Read More If…